Public Notary

Notary service is offered at Quincy Public Library as a service to the community. A public notary is almost always available during Library hours. The service is offered at the Reference Desk (under the “Ask Here” sign) and in the Library’s Administration Office.

The purpose of notarization is to prevent fraud and forgery. A notary acts as an official and unbiased witness to the identity of persons who comes before the notary for a specific purpose. Notaries do not have authority to provide legal advice unless he or she is also an attorney.

Please review the following information in order to use our notary service:

Please do not sign your documents before you come to the library. We are required to see you sign your documents.

Each person signing the document must be present for us to notarize each individual signature.

A current ID with your signature is required so that we can verify your identity. PLEASE NOTE: Recent state law requires the ID must be issued by a state or federal government agency and must bear the photographic image of the individual’s face and signature. Examples of acceptable IDs are those that are issued by a state or federal government agency that contain both a photographic image and signature are a valid (unexpired) state driver’s license or ID card, a United State military ID, or valid (unexpired) passport.

Examples of IDs we cannot accept are Social Security cards, a United States passport card, or student IDs that do not bear a photographic image and/or signature.

If your document requires witnesses as well as your own signature and notarization, please bring with you a sufficient number of people willing to serve as your witness.

Notaries at the Quincy Public Library cannot sign government I-9 forms, nor can we provide an Apostille. An Apostille is a form that certifies the authenticity of a document that is issued in one country to be used and considered valid in another.

Illinois law does not authorize a notary public to certify copies of any document. Persons requesting certified copies of documents will be referred to the official who has custody of the original document or to the office where the document has been officially filed.

Notaries at the Quincy Public Library reserve the right to refuse to sign any document that they deem questionable and/or may refuse to perform notary services when the identity of the person requesting notarization has not been positively established using acceptable IDs.